“Excluding investments in these additional areas is a global trend that makes sense for our members. They should receive better returns, and it’s what KiwiSaver members want."

A recent Consumer survey showed 77% KiwiSaver members were concerned about their funds investing in pornography; 73% were concerned about weapons; 70% about gambling; and 69% about tobacco.

Past performance indicates that had Simplicity been investing with these exclusions for the past five years, its returns would have been +0.76% p.a. better for its Growth funds, +0.54% p.a. for its Balanced funds, and +0.19% for its Conservative funds.

“The data clearly shows that these exclusions should be better for future returns and reflect a global trend,” Stubbs said.